Was Henry VIII Catholic or Protestant?

Henry was born in 1491 and grew up in a strong catholic family, he went to mass every day. Henry only started to question the catholic faith when he wanted to divorce his first wife, Catherine Of Aragon.

In the sixteenth centery everybody was happy with the catholic church and faith, but this all changed in the 1500’s. People began to critiscise the cathoic church. They protested against the following. The church was too weathly and used all it’s money in the wrong ways. The fact that the parish priests were never at their parishes. They had other jobs ad forgot about their parishes. All the services and the bible were in latain. Having to pay indulgences to forgive your sins. A group formed called the Lollards who protested against all of these factors.

Whilst this was happening Henry married Catherine Of Aragon and she gave him 1 daughter, Mary, also know as Bloody Mary. In 1519 a man called Martin Luther (1483-1546) who was a german monk, attacked the catholic church. He was esspecialy angry about the indulgences (paying to have your sins forgiven). Many peope joined him and they all formed a group called the Protestants. Henry did not like these people who were critiscising his faith, so he wrote a book defending the catholic church. He was given a title: ‘Defender Of The Faith’. Which can be found on old pennies.

In 1525 Henry decided he wanted another wife. Catherine was older than him and had already given him a daughter and was a little too old to have another child. Henry wanted a son, and he fell in love with Anne Boylen. He asked The Pope for a divorce but The Pope refused point blank. Then Anne became pregnant with his child.

During this time Henry was finding lots of things he didn’t like about the catholic church and in 1532 Henry stopped the payments from the church to The Pope. It was in 1533 when Henry got the Archbishop Of Cantubury to pronounce Henry and Anne man and wife. Henry decided he wanted to make his own church. In 1534 the acts of Supermacy made the King the head of the church instead of The Pope. 1536 was when the smaler monastries of the country closed down and then in 1539 the larger ones disolved as well. From 1536 to 1539 Henry executed any monk who dared to argue with him.

Overall I think Henry liked a bit of both faiths. He only started the Protestant church to divorce his wife but he got more and more into it as time went by. I think Henry beleived in the catholic beliefs but didn’t like the strings that were attached to being a catholic.